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The Express Tribune

Taliban preaching: From pulpit to pamphlet
By Riaz Ahmad
Published: April 8, 2012
PESHAWAR:

A steady and prolonged crackdown on militants has translated into fewer funds to spread their propaganda.

Consequently, the preferred medium of mass communication is now pamphlets — cheap to produce and easy to distribute.

An elderly resident of Matani, a suburb in Peshawar, narrates the power of these messages. “When the number of music stores increased in the village, the Taliban started sending out pamphlets with 500 rupees attached to them.” The message: ‘Shut down your business or purchase a funeral shroud.’

“Within a week, all music shops disappeared,” said the elderly resident.

Sometimes, the influence also works in favour of the people. When the prices of meat and sugar escalated unchecked, it was time for the militants to step in. “One morning, we found pamphlets dictating the prices of these commodities pasted on the walls. No one dared to disobey.”

These pamphlets are not just used to issue orders. Literatures pasted in crowded markets of tribal areas convey the Taliban’s point of view and ideology on various matters.

“Earlier, they had a terrestrial FM radio station in Darra Adam Khel to serve their purpose. Also, addressing large gatherings is not a viable option for the militants anymore,” the elder said. “So this is the new way for them to advertise their viewpoint.”

After the Marriot Hotel blast in Islamabad, for which the Pakistani Taliban were blamed, a circular was issued in Bajaur and Mohmand agencies by the militants disowning the attack. It also blamed the US intelligence agencies for it, saying the move’s purpose was to exert pressure on Pakistan’s government.

The pamphlets deter people from overt opposition even if they do not succeed in winning the support of the locals.

In 2008, the Taliban used such pamphlets to diplomatically navigate their way out of a potentially threatening situation. That year, residents of the Adezai village raised an anti-Taliban militia led by the battle-hardened Dilawar Khan. They took oaths in mosques and were soon joined by another local Nazim Haji Abdul Malik, who took over as the militia’s head. The Taliban militants found themselves facing an equally brutal opposition which managed to respond to their bloody gun battles.

The Taliban then released pamphlets warning residents of all nearby villages against showing support for the Adezai militia. It said that other than the Adezai village all others were ‘friends’ of the former. Once the village was effectively isolated, no amount of coercion could convince the neighbouring tribal areas to support the Adezai army.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2012.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/361419/t...t-to-pamphlet/